This invention relates to television transmission and more particularly to a television system that displays a reduced size television program and an electronic program guide (EPG) without a PIP chip.
It is now common for EPG""s to display a reduced size video program simultaneously on the screen with the television program listings, sometimes called picture-in-guide (PIG). In order to utilize a PIG format according to current practice, electronics to reduce the size of the video program, such as a PIP chip, is installed in the television receiver. However, a PIP chip is relatively expensive so many television receivers are without it. This denies to many television viewers the convenience of a PIG format.
To display an EPG, a first signal representing a reduced size video program is transmitted from a central location to a plurality of user terminals in a television signal. A second signal representative of an EPG is generated at one of the user terminals. The first and second signals are linearly combined and applied to a display monitor to display the reduced size video program and the EPG on the screen of the monitor simultaneously. As a result, a PIG format can be displayed without a PIP chip at the user terminals.
A feature of the invention is to transmit a plurality of reduced size video programs in the television signal and to select one of them for display in a PIG format by marking the program listing in the EPG corresponding to the selected reduced size video program with a cursor.